NEHS ’09: The Journey Continues Conference Once Again Focuses on Sustainability & SGP or nearly 15 years, Flexographic Technical Association and other key associations serving the printing industry have sponsored the National Environmental, Health and Safety (NEHS) Conference to help printers to better understand and meet their environmental, health and safety (EHS) compliance obligations. Due to the intense interest and demands from the printer’s customer base for sustainable green printing, the focus of the 2008 program was changed and the theme concentrated on the pathways printers can take to sustainability. For 2009, this theme continues with “Printing for a Sustainable Future.” The event is slated for March 16-18 at the Sheraton City Center, Indianapolis, IN. If you’re a business owner or other key staff member and are involved with adopting sustainable green printing practices, or an environmental, health and safety manager, human resource manager, EHS equipment and services supplier or government technical assistance provider, you should consider attending this one-of-a-kind event for the entire printing industry. NEHS ’09 boasts two impressive keynote speakers: Robert C. F Tapella, chief executive officer of the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), and editor-in-chief of Graphic Arts Monthly, Bill Esler. Tapella will discuss what the GPO is doing to promote sustainability and how printers can become an active part in the nation’s efforts to become a “greener” country. Esler’s presentation will review the second annual printing industry sustainability survey results. Last year’s survey showed only 14 percent of printers had a formal sustainability policy, but those companies were the most successful in working toward their goals and satisfying customer demands. This year, Esler will examine to what extent the attitudes and activities of printing and packaging companies shifted in the last 12 months. www. f le xomag.com Throughout the supply chain, sustainability is a top priority. If it hasn’t happened already, your customer will probably be asking you what you’re doing to be sustainable. Attendees will have a chance to learn proven, effective strategies from leading experts, including representatives from Toyota and Kimberly-Clark. Four pre-conference workshops are available covering Sustainability Management Systems, which help both to organize you and your facility’s operations that relate to environmental, safety and sustainability efforts. Other topics include how to meet the SGP Partnership’s EHS compliance criteria; how to calculate air emissions, water usage, energy usage metrics to better understand your facility’s baseline and to setting key goals and targets; and the best ways for a company to protect itself, reputation, employees, owners, and clients from being sued for various forms of theft and harassment is through workplace investigations. The breakout session presentations will be given by experts covering top priorities for today’s printers. They include the SGP audit process, from desktop to site visit and follow-up; how to best manage your employees and yet stay in compliance; programs necessary to improve and sustain the safety culture in your explicit details about the SGP certification process, including information from those who have been through it, will be presented at neHS ’09. Winter 2009 Sustainable FLEXO 3